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Bonaparte's insatiable thirst of dominion prompted him in 1812 to invade Russia at the head of 500,000 troops ; but the severity of a Russian winter, and the defensive power of the Russians, gave the first check to his conquering spirit. 100,000 men of the French army were made prisoners, and 200,000 perished by cold, famine, and the sword, in this campaign.

The different independent governments of Europe took advantage of these disasters in order to restore independence and political liberty to the subjugated countries. The monarchs of Great Britain, Russia, Prussia, Austria, and Sweden, formed a confederacy to dethrone Bonaparte, and to restore to the several usurped thrones, members of families which had formerly held the sovereignty of the different states. This alliance is

often called the Holy Alliance--as a compact of defenders of the rights of kings, and, as the allied powers professed, of protectors of religion and morals. The armies of these sovereigns-the combined forces which acted under the command of generals from each of the allied states, was called the Allied Army.

The allied army entered Paris and took possession of it on the 18th March, 1814. Bonaparte consequently fled, and retired to the island of Elba in the Mediterranean; but he quitted his retreat on the 1st March, 1815, and at the head of the French army which flocked to his standard he re-entered Paris amidst acclamations of Vive l'Empereur. The allied army was prepared to defend the rights of the Bourbons.-During the absence of Bonaparte, Louis XVIII, brother to Louis XVI, (a King of France beheaded in 1793,) was placed on the throne of France, and to restore him to his late assumed dignity was an immediate purpose of the allied powers.

Bonaparte encountered the allied army near Brussels in Belgium. On the 15th of June he defeated the Prussians; on the 16th he obtained some advantages over the British; but on the 18th his army was completely defeated in the BATTLE OF WATERLOO. The French army under Bonaparte consisted of 75,000

Frenchmen. The troops under Lord Wellington, 35,000 English and Scots, and the rest, of German contingents, formed, in point of numbers, a early equal force.

"The loss on the British side during this dreadful battle," to borrow the words of Sir Walter Scott, was, "immense.-One hundred officers slain, five hundred wounded, many of them to death, fifteen thousand men killed and wounded, threw half Britain into mourning." It is supposed that about 35,000 French perished at Waterloo, or in consequence of the battle. It was said that the English officers, when news came to them of the advance of Bonaparte, were at a ball at Brussels. Lord Byron has commemorated this circumstance in Childe Harolde.

THE BALL OF BRUSSELS.

There was a sound of revelry by night,
And Belgium's capital had gather'd then
Her beauty and her chivalry, and bright
The lamps shone o'er fair women and brave men ;
A thousand hearts beat happily; and when
Music arose with its voluptuous swell,

Soft eyes look'd love to eyes which spake again,

And all went merry as a marriage-bell ;

But hush! hark! a deep sound strikes likes a rising knell;

Did ye not hear it?-No; 'twas but the wind,
Or the car rattling o'er the stony street;

On with the dance! let joy be unconfined;

No sleep till morn, when Youth and Pleasure meet
To chase the glowing Hours with flying feet-
But, hark!--that heavy sound breaks in once more,
As if the clouds its echo would repeat;

And nearer, clearer, deadlier than before!

Arm! Arm! it is-it is--the cannon's opening roar !
Within a window'd niche of that high hall
Sate Brunswick's fated chieftain; he did hear
That sound the first amidst the festival,
And caught its tone with Death's prophetic ear

And when they smil'd because he deem'd it near,
His heart more truly knew that peal too well
Which stretched his father on a bloody bier,
And roused the vengeance blood alone can quell:
He rush'd into the field, and, foremost fighting, fell.
Ah! then and there was hurrying to and fro,
And gathering tears, and tremblings of distress,
And cheeks all pale, which but an hour ago
Blush'd at the praise of their own loveliness;
And there were sudden partings, such as press
The life from out young hearts, and choking sighs
Which ne'er might be repeated; who could guess
If ever more should meet those mutual eyes,

Since upon nights so sweet such awful morn could rise?
And there was mounting in hot haste: the steed,
The mustering squadron, and the clattering car,
Went pouring forward with impetuous speed,
And swiftly forming in the ranks of war ;
And the deep thunder peal on peal afar;
And near, the beat of the alarming drum
Roused up the soldier ere the morning star;
While throng'd the citizens with terror dumb,
Or whispering, with white lips-" The foe! they come
they come !"

And wild and high the "Cameron's gathering" rose!
The war-note of Lochiel, which Albyn's hills
Have heard, and heard, too, have her Saxon foes :--
How in the noon of night that pibroch thrills,
Savage and shrill! But with the breath which fills
Their mountain-pipe, so fill the mountaineers
With the fierce native daring which instils
The stirring memory of a thousand years,

And Evan's, Donald's fame rings in each elansman's

ears!

And Ardennes waves above them her green leaves,
Dewy with nature's tear-drops, as they pass,

Grieving, if aught inanimate e'er grieves,

Over the unreturning brave,-alas!

Ere evening to be trodden like the grass

Which now beneath them, but above shall grow
In its next verdure, when this fiery mass

Of living valour, rolling on the foe

And burning with high hope, shall moulder cold and low.

Last noon beheld them full of lusty life,

Last eve in Beauty's circle proudly gay,

The midnight brought the signal-sound of strife,
The morn the marshalling in arms,—the day
Battle's magnificently-stern array!

The thunder-clouds close o'er it, which when rent
The earth is cover'd thick with other clay,
Which her own clay shall cover, heap'd and pent,
Rider and horse,-friend, foe,-in one red burial blent!

Brunswick's fated chieftain. The Duke of Brunswick, a German Prince, killed in the action. The "Cameron's gathering" rose. This alludes to the music of the Scottish troops. They distinguish themselves always as soldiers, for they bring the most noble principles of duty and patriotism into the service. An interesting moral view of the Highland soldiery is afforded by Mrs. Grant, in her Essay on the Superstitions of the Highlanders.

Evan's and Donald's fame. Sir Evan Cameron and his descendant Donald, chiefs of the Camerons, beloved and cherished in the memory of their clansmen.

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"The wood of Soignies, near the field of Waterloo, is supposed to be a remnant of the forest of Ardennes,' famous in Boiardo's Orlando, and immortal in Shakspeare's As you like it.' It is also celebrated in Tacitus as being the spot of successful defence by the Germans against the Roman encroachments."

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WORDSWORTH.

Of living poets there is not one whose moral feelings, as they are exhibited in his poetry, more entitle him to the respect of mankind than Mr. Wordsworth. This gentleman resides in the North of England. He loves the rural life, and exhibits it delightfully in his poetry; and the benevolence of his heart is as remarkably connected with his poetic talent, as the purest spirit of devotion, and the finest enjoyment of external nature. The Bee, the Solitary Reaper, and the Deserted Indian Woman, are the only extracts from Wordsworth's poetry which there is room to insert in this volume.

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THE BEE.

the soft murmur of the vagrant Bee.
-A slender sound! yet hoary Time

Doth to the soul exalt it with the chime
Of all his years ;—a company

Of ages coming, ages gone;
(Nations from before them sweeping,
Regions in destruction steeping,)
But every awful note in unison

With that faint utterance, which tells
Of treasure sucked from buds and bells
For the pure keeping of those waxen cells;
Where she, a prudent statist to confer
Upon the public weal; a warrior bold-
Radiant all over with unburnished gold;
And armed with living spear for mortal fight;
A cunning forager

That spreads no waste ;-a social builder; one
In whom all offices unite

With all fine functions that afford delight,

Safe through the winter storm in quiet dwells!
And is she brought within the power
Of vision ?--o'er this tempting flower
Hovering until the petals stay
Her flight, and take its voice away!

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